Visitor
by ENTRIKIT
Summary: Paine visits Baralai unexpectedly in the middle of the night, and he discovers he doesn't want her to leave. Paralai. A sort of continuation of Swing, I guess PaineBaralai's POV before the party but another oneshot.


**Disclaimer - **Game not mine.

**A/N - I debated on whether or not to continue, and I guess it'll be a three-shot: one chapter of Rikku/Gippal, one of Tidus/Yuna, and one of Paine/Baralai. Here's Paine and Baralai for you. And I know the memory of the Den of Woe isn't how it was shown in the game, but it's my version of it.**

He stood and made his way over to the door, avoiding the puddle of orange juice on the floor. The doorbell had startled him and now orange juice - and bits of glass - were laying near the counter.

Fumbling with the lock, he opened the door a bit and peered out. It surprised him when two ruby eyes stared back, but he opened the door.

"Paine," he said softly. He said her name politely but they both knew there was more behind it.

"Baralai," she responded. She stepped past him into his small apartment and walked over to the window, staring out at the quiet streets of Bevelle. Her gaze swept the dark city before wandering the room and landing on the orange pool. Juice was soaking into the rug.

He rubbed the back of his neck, a sign that he was nervous at being near her. "I apologize. I wasn't expecting any visitors this early, and the bell startled me." He glanced at the clock and saw the time: four in the morning.

She seemed to ignore his explanation but turned her head to one side, studying him. He shifted uneasily under her curious, but guarded, stare. "You couldn't sleep."

"Yeah." He was silent for a moment before he turned and grabbed a dustpan from the cabinet. He scooped up the broken glass and dumped it carefully in a trash can, then grabbed a towel and layed it over the spreading orange stain. Standing up - and remembering he was in a robe and slippers - he excused himself for a moment and rushed to change.

She watched him move to the bedroom, then sat on the overstuffed couch. She remembered when she helped him move in; it was her and Nooj directing traffic while Baralai and Gippal did all the actual moving. They complained about the work (well, mostly Gippal; Baralai was rather quiet) but everyone knew it was just good fun.

Now she wasn't sure why he fidgeted under her gaze. He never used to.

She stood and moved over to the window again, sitting between the maroon pillows on the window seat. Bevelle was so beautiful at night, with only a few lights on. Not like she'd tell that to anyone.

He returned in his usual praetor's garb and clasped his hands behind his back. "So... Paine." He kept glancing away (politely, he told himself) when she attempted eye contact. "What brings you here so early? I trust the Gullwings are okay?"

She gave up trying to get him to look directly at her. Instead she moved back to the couch and sat back, eyes closed. "The Hyper Twins are fine, if that's what you mean."

She avoided mentioning herself, and he noticed. "Is the red-eyed Gullwing doing alright?"

She shook her head in a 'no comment' fashion and he sighed, sitting down on the opposite end of the couch. "Paine, what -"

"Nothing." Her eyes opened and locked onto his, keeping his gaze. "Nothing's wrong."

"So then, may I ask why -"

She stood and began to pace. "I don't know. I don't know why I keep coming here."

He sat back and watched her walk back and forth. "I don't think that'll help -"

She glared, silencing him, and she instantly regretted it. "You're not my therapist."

He hesitated but nodded wordlessly, encouraging her to continue. She sighed and sat cross-legged on the floor infront of him. (He was shocked to realize he enjoyed this position, as her leather top was unusually low. He began mentally lecturing himself about how being a praetor meant... well, not thinking those things.)

"Baralai," she started slowly. "I keep... I keep feeling like I need to see you. Like I need to know where you are, how you are; what you've been working on lately here."

His eyebrows slowly began to raise, but he nodded again. For now he _was_ her therapist, and so he shoved thoughts of her cleavage out of his mind. (Honestly, why was he thinking those things? It was so unlike him. And yet...) He shook his head to stop himself and Paine cut off her sentence, watching him carefully.

"Would you like me to move?" she asked quietly, and though he protested, she stood and sat by the window yet again.

_Good, _he thought, _at least that puts more space between us._

"I just... needed to see you," she whispered. It was barely audible but he could guess at what she said. And he'd had the same urge since he saw her, after she'd joined the Gullwings.

He could remember now when he'd seen her getting onto the Celsius, after Yuna had first come to see him. She hadn't looked back, but he watched her from his apartment window - the very one she was sitting at.

And yet, at this moment, they were so much farther from each other than that day. It was like she deliberately pushed him away even when he didn't say anything.

Like now.

With a start he realized the door had closed. He came out of his reverie to see an empty apartment. She'd left already.

He jumped from the couch and ran through the door, stumbling on the stairs. He told himself it was raining, and that's why she shouldn't be outside. Yes, that was it; she would catch a cold.

He didn't see her outside the building, and he ran for the port. A last-minute airship was getting ready to leave, most likely trying to get to its next stop before dawn. "You there!" he called to the traffic director, panting slightly. "Don't let that airship leave. Praetor Baralai has official business with someone aboard before it departs." The director nodded and radioed the pilot, ordering him to stay grounded for a little while longer.

He ran up the steps to the ship (two at a time) and whipped open the door. She raised an eyebrow at him and shifted in her seat, making room.

He smiled, trying to hide the fact that he was still panting. He sat down and sighed. After he caught his breath he asked, "Why did you leave?"

"Yuna's engagement party." She stared out the window at the shadowed city.

He followed her gaze but saw nothing but black. "Aah."

She turned and locked her eyes with his, not allowing him to glance away this time. "Why did you follow me?"

He sat silently, unable to come up with an answer - well, a good answer, anyway._ You, uh, left something in my apartment and I forgot it; I wanted to know where you were going, that's all; I was going to ban you from coming to my apartment but that's cruel; I want you to join New Yevon; I'm secretly in love with you, so please don't go._ Any one of those would have scared her off permanently (especially the last one, he believed) and so his silence remained.

"You know you're holding up the flight."

"Yeah."

"...I'd like to get there before anything starts." She ignored the fact that Tidus had repeatedly reminded everyone that Yuna wouldn't be home until about three in the afternoon.

"Mm." He actually hadn't been personally invited to the party, but Rikku had told him it wouldn't start until the afternoon - so technically he could hold the airship up for another six hours or so.

There was a very long pause that stretched both their minds into crazy thoughts. (She wondered, for example, if she could bind and gag him, dress up like him in a costume, and order the pilot to take off immediately; he wondered where she bought milk.)

She slowly raised her head and stared at him. "I love you."

His head snapped up, cracking his neck loudly. He absently rubbed it with one hand while he clenched and unclenched the other. How was he supposed to respond to _that?_

She shifted _very_ slightly, the only indication that she was nervous. "At least, I think I do. That's the only thing I can think of that would cause me to visit you at four in the morning for no reason."

"Me too."

She raised an eyebrow at him.

He sighed and buried his face in his hands. "I mean... I think I love you, too," he mumbled. He peeked between his fingers. Her expression was unreadable. What little confidence he had faltered. "I'll, uh, I'll tell them to move the plane now."

He hesitated for a second. Before he got up, he leaned over and kissed her softly on the cheek. After a moment he pulled away; however, he didn't expect her to close her eyes and smile. She reached semi-blindly for his hand and he let her take it. With a slight squeeze, she whispered, "Thank you."

And that was when he kissed her on the lips, closing his own eyes, holding her head to his with his free hand. She gave in almost eagerly (eager for her, anyway; there was the slightest bit of pressure from her pushing back on his lips). He could feel her smile again and he felt a rush of gladness that he could make her happy, right here and now.

She was the one to gently break the kiss. She squeezed his hand again and said softly, "The pilot."

"Oh, yes, of course." He hastily left and she could hear him ordering flight. She thought of their kiss, and was surprised at a sudden feeling of being... complete. She hadn't realized how long she'd been waiting for him. Since their Crimson Squad days? Most likely.

With a shudder she remembered what had happened in the Den of Woe.

_There was a short note that rang out suddenly, the start of a piano tune. But something wasn't quite right._

_"Baralai," she said softly. "What's that?"_

_He glanced around wearily before replying, "I don't know."_

_"Where did the others go?" she asked, realizing they were alone in the dark cave. Gippal and Nooj seemed to have disappeared into thin air - and that thought was disturbing, as clouds of pyreflies began to light up the tunnel._

_He cursed quietly as screaming erupted in a distant part of the tunnel, growing louder. Gunfire, too, began to echo._

_They were all turning on each other. There was a shout from behind them and they both whipped around, seeing Gippal stumble out of shadow. His eyes danced with a cursed light._

_That light spread to Baralai's eyes, and Paine watched in horror as they attacked each other. Baralai whacked the Al Bhed recruit with his long staff and when the other man faltered, stabbed him in the eye with a knife._

_She turned and ran, pyreflies seeming to chase her. They too had a sort of cursed glow to them. She glanced back when she heard footfalls and saw him chasing her. Then the light seemed to leave his eyes - a pyrefly exiting his body - and he fell forward._

_She spun and grabbed him just before he hit the ground, pulling him up. Gippal appeared as well, being pulled along by a bloodied Nooj. Gippal's eye was bleeding intensely, and Nooj was favoring one of his legs, cringing when he walked._

_Baralai looked her in the eye as he stood up, and an understanding passed between them to try and put what he'd done to Gippal behind them. She nodded slightly - she'd seen how the pyreflies were causing the chaos. Even now they swarmed around the four of them to the melody of the piano._

_Gippal and Nooj would need convincing to accept that their friend had been possessed. But seeing as they were the only ones headed toward an exit, she guessed they'd all try to forget the whole thing._

_As they emerged from the Den of Woe (so accurately named), the Yevonites who'd ordered the mission rushed forward with questions. The three men were silent. Paine stepped forward and cut off the arguing priests with a cold, hard look._

_"We're the only ones who're alive. Go ahead and search the place, you'll find nothing but bodies. Something is in there, and it doesn't want to be disturbed. That's why we nearly died."_

_Everyone stared, but when Gippal and Nooj both collapsed from loss of blood priorities were remembered. With their attention off of her, she walked away from them all, Baralai following about ten feet behind. _

That was when Paine closed herself up and threw away the key. Try as he might, he couldn't find it. But now, after so long... he'd finally found that key.

Walking back into the cabin as the airship rumbled to life, he sat down next to her and smiled.

- - - - -

**A/N - Well, I didn't think I would end it here, but it works for me. Anything else I wrote was horrible, so here it is. And I'm posting this so you all know I'm alive and that the next chapter of MTW will be a little bit. Something's come up and I've gotta deal with it right now.**

**Peace.**


End file.
